including the additional wording, is also his. He added: “Whenever he narrated this hadith, he would narrate this other hadith: ‘There was once a king among the kings, and that king had a soothsayer ...’”—the hadith in its entirety. Al-Tirmidhī transmitted it (2/236–237); Muslim also transmitted it (8/229–231), as did Aḥmad in one of his narrations (1/16–18), by way of Ḥammād ibn Salamah, who said: Thābit narrated to us through the same chain, but without the first hadith. Al-Tirmidhī said: “It is a good, singular hadith.” I say: Its chain also meets the criteria of both al-Bukhārī and Muslim.

Note: In Imam al-Nawawī’s al-Adhkār, it is stated: “Imam Abū Muḥammad al-Qāḍī Ḥusayn, one of our fellow scholars—may Allah have mercy on him—mentioned in his book al-Taʿlīq fī al-Madhhab (Commentary on the School of Law): ‘One day, one of the prophets—may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon them all—looked at his people, considered them numerous, and was impressed by them. Then seventy thousand of them died within an hour. Allah, Exalted is He, revealed to him: You have afflicted them with the evil eye! Had you protected them when you gave them the evil eye, they would not have perished. He said: With what should I protect them? Allah Most High revealed to him: Say: I have protected them by the Ever-Living, the Sustainer, who never dies; and I have warded off evil from you: There is no power or might except through Allah, the Most High, the Magnificent.’”

I say: In this wording, it is rejected in my view, because it contradicts the foregoing authentic narration in ways that are evident. What is remarkable is that al-Nawawī then said: “The annotator reported from al-Qāḍī Ḥusayn: It was al-Qāḍī’s custom—may Allah have mercy on him—whenever he looked at his students and was impressed by their dignified bearing and fine condition, to protect them with this aforementioned supplication.” I say: Al-Nawawī made no comment on this, as though he endorsed and approved it. Even if this had been a weak hadith,